The Artwork Switcheroo, Part 354

As my profile states, I am fickle. I change my mind constantly when it comes to accessorizing my home. My Art Wall above the living room couch is the main victim. I think it is because we spend so much time in that room that I am constantly looking at it, and I get bored. So once again I have taken down all the pictures, patched the holes and came up with a new plan- No More Art- over the couch that is. I am never happy with what goes up there, so I am ditching the idea entirely. Our ceilings are high, and the couch is long, making it difficult to come up with a good layout and properly proportioned Art.

I popped by Ikea the other day and found this great mirror. I originally was going to go with using 3 frame-less ones that would be cheaper, but after all is said and done this one at $69 was the best option.

It is 27"x67" long and brings a ton of reflective light into the room from the only window in the room. My grand plan would be to put either mounted lights on either side or arc floor lamps like these to add height to the room. I believe I am finally down with this area, but who knows what I'll have up my sleeve in a few months. As for the Art, it definitely has not left the living room, stay tuned to see how I bring it back into the space, and where the old stuff found a new home.

My Apologies...

It seems as though when life gets busy my blog, and my readers get neglected. For that I am sorry :) The past month has been busy and stressful. There were ups: I earned my Master's Degree!!, had some quality "porch time" with neighbors, and then there were downs: Erik's continued struggle to find a new car, busy-body parents at school. So I am writing to apologize for neglecting SD and I hope to be back posting as usual. After all, I am always doing something!

Thanks for still following me and my itchy, home decorating fingers!

Almost there...

This week marks the final week of course work for my Master's in Education Degree. Hense, I have been overwhelmed with essays, rationales, and stress making me absent from my posts. Wish me luck as my portfolio is reviewed and am I evaluated for my degree. I'll be back soon.

The Other Love in my Life

Besides labels, Doc, and the husband, cleaning is next on the LOVE list. I tend to always keep my home 'picked up' just in case company pops by, but the deep down cleaning is not as often. Our couch has needed some TLC for a while now. We got it about 3 years ago and it has taken a beating. One Great Dane, one move, lots of friends, and one dachshund. It was time for a deep clean. Luckily for me, my wonderful family graced me with this amazing birthday gift:

Bissell's Little Green Machine is life changing. It is a handheld cleaning system for upholstery. We looked into the at home steamer companies, and even renting a steam cleaner, but getting this little guy was the best option. For around $100 initially, you can have cleaning muscle at your finger tips.

I used it this past weekend on our light, camel colored micro-fiber sofa it worked great! It took out the drool spots, spills and other little spots that had collected over time. It is easy to use, just fill the tank with the cleaning solution and hot water and go to town. The only tricky part is making sure to vacuum up all the cleaning solution so that it doesn't leave a residue line. A great investment for any pet owner or parent for sure! I'm going to try it out in my car next...

Label Love

Labels are one of the most lovely gifts that the world has given me. They help me find things I need, dress up storage containers, and they are super easy to make. You can have the standard piece of paper with hand-written scribbles, but the next easiest is printed labels.

I have been working on cleaning up and re-organizing my office. I have new fabrics and felt that needed homes, and a growing card-making station. There were lots of little boogers that needed homes, and the recycling bin was happy to help.

I whipped up these super simple containers to house my various bits including twine, grommets, beads, tools, and brads. A Jif container and a bread-crumb container were the perfect size for the cabinet that I store my goods in. Next I added contact paper to the outside for a clean slate. For the labels I took transparent address labels and added the border with a simple shape from Microsoft Word. Easy, fast, and effective. The only way I live...

How about you, what makes a great label for your things?

Tip: Cleaning Fake Flowers

If you picked up Real Simple's October issue you would see the article about picking fake flower arrangements. I am a huge fun of the faux for two reasons: 1. they are cheaper, 2. you can get colors that nature doesn't allow. I began my love for the fake florals when deciding on flowers for my wedding bouquets. I used latex magnolias and was able to make all 6 of my wedding day bouquets for $50 and I still have mine on display 3 1/2 years later.

But the one problem with the fakes- dust bunnies! Swiffer won't do anything about it, and the dust is really what makes them look fake. I have the best remedy in my home office-

Compressed Air Duster

This handy little guy does an awesome job of getting the bunnies out without crushing petals, snagging a cotton cloth or wasting time. It takes just a minute or two and your immortal lovelies are clean and happy!

DIY: Chalkboard

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